- The Washington Times - Friday, April 24, 2015

Nine Republican presidential hopefuls will not be among the 3,000-ish guests at the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner in the nation’s capital. They have a different calling on Saturday.

Though politically attuned to every opportunity, this group will be in Waukee, Iowa, at the Point of Grace church - talking up weightier topics at the 15th annual Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition’s “kick-off” gathering and voter outreach.

On hand: Sens. Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz; Govs. Scott Walker and Bobby Jindal, Carly Fiorina, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee. Sen. Lindsey Graham, Jeb Bush and Ben Carson will be represented either via video messages, or through a personal representative. Over a 1,000 people are expected at the free event; the hopefuls will each have 15 minutes on the podium.

“We promise an in-depth conversation with the candidates on a broad range of issues. We believe this will be a first step for caucus goers to garner information that will allow them to formulate their opinions on who they will support at the 2016 precinct caucuses,” advises Steve Scheffler, president of the coalition, a non-profit organization that stands for “integrity in government, high moral values, constitutional authority, and Christian principles.”

And of course, this is Iowa, still a state of opportunity. While he’s there, Mr. Rubio will attend an ice cream social in the home of a state senator while Mr. Paul will speak at an American Legion Hall and a local library.

• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.

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